Here are the Rules:
#1. Find a cooperative cat.*
#2. Give him a bath.
#3. Dry him off.
#4. Use the vacuum cleaner drapery attachment to fluff and remove loose fur.
*NOTE: Rule #1 is the most important.
*NOTE: Rule #1 is easier to follow if the cat is deaf and senile and has totally forgotten that cats are afraid of noisy vacuum cleaners!
This is Bo. He is 18 years old. He has just had a bath but he's already forgotten he had a bath so he's not mad anymore and he just thinks he's being petted:
Is that pathetic? Or hilarious??? Mike was being careful not to suck the entire cat into the vacuum hose; I'm behind the camera, and that's also my voice you hear in the background, laughing, so you'll want to turn your sound on!
Bo enjoyed it! And so did we!
We tore out the old rotting wood & brick deck/patio two or three years ago, but then couldn't find the motivation to do the hard work of rebuilding. Just recently we finally decided to bite the bullet and get busy on it and, since there's a heat wave coming, it's the perfect time to work outside in the glaring sun!
Because the ground was uneven, and the bricks need a foundation to rest on, yesterday Mike brought home two truckloadsd of crushed rock to spread and tamp down:
Michael was away until Monday evening (smart guy!), so Mike did the work of shoveling two loads of crushed rock out of the truck and onto the ground, then spreading it around.
Our very sad looking little cat cemetery. Yes, there are cats buried here, three of them. Each time we planted a cat we planted a different color daisy. We actually have four daisies planted here, but one of the cats, Callie, isn't really here; she didn't come home from the vet. Three other cats are here, though, O.J., Tony, and Leah; they all died at home.
Here's a shot from inside the garden, looking toward the arbor:
Here are my much-happier-now cacti and my cheerful-again (& deadheaded) geraniums:
And one of our many tomato plants, now staked nicely so it's not half-laying on the ground, and half-propped up by plastic chairs:
I was hoping we were done with manual labor for awhile but then today, this activity began: 
The tamping down of the rock and sand with a machine called the "Wacker." It rattled and hummed and vibrated and but it did a great job. Mike made me do some of it, too, but I didn't last too long before my arms gave out! Here's the final result:
NOW can we be done for the day? Nope, now arrives a truckload of sand:
I helped (a little) shovel this out of the truck and spread it around on the ground. THEN we got to stop for today. Tomorrow Mike will finished evening out the sand, making sure the plot is perfectly level and then . . .
The Peddler's Fair in Benicia was packed, as usual, but at least the weather was the coolest (aka nicest) that it's been in the dozen years we've lived here. I always enjoy going to this fair, even though I seldom buy anything! The prices are a bit steep for us; I have to absolutely LOVE something to pay the asking price.
Here's an exception. I'd definitely have bought this if I could afford it ($695.00, oy!) because I did LOVE it. It's a full-size bedspread made of white cotton and hand-embroidered entirely in redwork. Beautiful!!! And it was done in 1895, so it's very old, and it's soft and delicate. Oh, would I love to have it, but not at that price. The lady in the booth kindly let me take a photo but she drew the line at letting me unfold it very much. She didn't want it handled any more than necessary. Isn't it gorgeous?
. . . old magnifying glasses . . .
. . . and colorful dishware.
This photo was taken almost exactly one year ago. Rodrigo, Michael, and I in front of the Olympic Countdown Clock in Tiananmen Square, the very heart of Beijing. If you were able to read it in this photo you'd see it says 357 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 44 seconds until the 2008 Olympic Games.
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